PLATINUM2023

CORPSAFRICA

aka CorpsAfrica   |   New York, NY   |  www.corpsafrica.org

Mission

CorpsAfrica recruits and trains bright, ambitious African men and women to serve in their own countries or other African countries as “Volunteers" along the lines of the Peace Corps model. They spend up to a year living in rural, high-poverty villages in their own countries and help local people identify and solve their top-priority development challenges, whatever they may be. We believe that development efforts are most effective when women, men and youth at the community level are the ones identifying what needs to be done and taking the lead in doing it. CorpsAfrica has programs in Morocco, Senegal, Malawi and Rwanda.

Ruling year info

2011

Founder and Executive Director

Liz Fanning

Main address

300 Park Avenue, 12th Floor

New York, NY 10022 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

45-2470692

NTEE code info

Youth Development Programs (O50)

International Economic Development (Q32)

Community Improvement, Capacity Building N.E.C. (S99)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2022, 2021 and 2020.
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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

CorpsAfrica addresses the critical need for professional and personal growth opportunities across Africa by mobilizing young people to combat poverty and empower rural villagers through facilitating community-led development.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

National Service Opportunity for Young Africans

CorpsAfrica gives bright, ambitious African men and women the opportunity to serve in their own countries or other African countries as “Volunteers” along the lines of the Peace Corps model.

Population(s) Served

CorpsAfrica gives bright, ambitious African men and women the opportunity to serve in their own countries or other African countries as “Volunteers” along the lines of the Peace Corps model.

Population(s) Served

Where we work

Awards

Sargen Shriver Award for Humanitarian Service 2019

National Peace Corps Association

Affiliations & memberships

GreatNonprofit 2019

GreatNonprofit 2020

GreatNonprofit 2021

GreatNonprofit 2022

GreatNonprofit 2023

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of CorpsAfrica Volunteers

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Young adults

Related Program

National Service Opportunity for Young Africans

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

The number of CorpsAfrica Volunteers and alumni continue to increase every year.

Number of CorpsAfrica countries

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Young adults

Related Program

National Service Opportunity for Young Africans

Type of Metric

Input - describing resources we use

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

2017: Morocco, Senegal, Malawi; 2018: Morocco, Senegal, Malawi, Rwanda; 2019 : Morocco, Senegal, Malawi, Rwanda; 2022: Morocco, Senegal, Malawi, Rwanda, Ghana, and Kenya

Number of training workshops

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Young adults

Related Program

National Service Opportunity for Young Africans

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

CorpsAfrica facilitates four intensive trainings per country each year for CorpsAfrica Volunteers.

Number of organizational partners

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

National Service Opportunity for Young Africans

Type of Metric

Context - describing the issue we work on

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

CorpsAfrica Volunteers work closely with local, regional and int'l Development Partners to direct their scarce resources to rural villages that otherwise may be difficult to reach.

Number of Facebook followers

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

National Service Opportunity for Young Africans

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

CorpsAfrica is part of an active social media community across Africa and the world.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

CorpsAfrica gives bright, ambitious African men and women the opportunity to serve in their own countries or other African countries to facilitate small-scale, high-impact projects that are identified by local people, along the lines of the Peace Corps model.

342 Volunteers have successfully completed service; 172 Volunteers are currently serving in Morocco, Senegal, Malawi, Rwanda, Ghana, and Kenya in the 2022-2023 cohort. Initially, a large investment from a state-owned Moroccan company helped us expand to Senegal and Malawi. More recently, a second major backer is significantly enlarging capacity and growth through a five-year partnership—allowing the organization to add five more countries, including Ghana and Kenya, in 2022 and Nigeria, Uganda, and Ethiopia in 2023, and two more countries in 2024. From a one-person start-up in 2011, CorpsAfrica has evolved into a multinational organization with programs in six countries, a 50+ person staff. We have a strong followership base of over 7,000 individuals seeking to participate in the organization in various capacities – as applicants to the Volunteer program, friends of the organization, and partners. The demand for the CorpsAfrica model is clearly established. We are still perfecting the model and figuring out best practices before we will be ready to scale up across Africa.

Many factors have contributed to CorpsAfrica's success.
- First and foremost – the Volunteers are truly spectacular young people, eager to be a part of the solution for their country and show the world what they can do.
- Morocco was a terrific country from which to start CorpsAfrica. It's politically stable with a long history of the Peace Corps, and the people are warm and welcoming. The communities treated our Volunteers as if they were their own – and they worked together to identify and implement projects that address their top-priority needs.
- With Group 2, we tested utilization of the Design Thinking, which is a problem-solving technique that brings a structure to the facilitation process. The Volunteers loved it and we were able to raise money to hire a Design Thinking Consultant (RPCV-Liberia) to plan the curriculum and oversee the process. He is currently training a former Volunteer to become the Design Thinking trainer in Morocco.
- The US Peace Corps has been an exceptional partner from the very beginning. They provide advice and support as well as resources and on-the-ground collaboration. We had a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Morocco for Group 2, to provide support to the Volunteers in the field. When she ended her service, we hired two former CorpsAfrica Volunteers as “Volunteer Support Specialists."

CorpsAfrica has successfully recruited and supported 514 Volunteers to serve in Morocco, Senegal, Malawi, Rwanda, Ghana, and Kenya in the 2022-2023 cohort; 342 Volunteers have successfully completed service. Initially, a large investment from a state-owned Moroccan company helped us expand to Senegal and Malawi. More recently, a second major backer is significantly enlarging capacity and growth through a five-year partnership—allowing the organization to add five more countries, including Ghana and Kenya, in 2022 and Nigeria, Uganda, and Ethiopia in 2023 and two more countries in 2024. From a one-person start-up in 2011, CorpsAfrica has evolved into a multinational organization with programs in six countries, a 50+ person staff. We have a strong followership base of over 7,000 individuals seeking to participate in the organization in various capacities – as applicants to the Volunteer program, friends of the organization, and partners. The demand for the CorpsAfrica model is clearly established.

Some highlights:
* More than 130 strategic, financial, technical, and institutional Development Partners
* On average, each Volunteer impacts 500 community members, trains around 40 people using Human-Centered Design and Asset-based Community Development, and creates 50 local work opportunities during their service
*99% of host communities request another Volunteer
* 88% of alumni have transitioned into work or entrepreneurship, and 30% have received, or are pursuing, graduate degrees.


How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.
  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, It is hard to come up with good questions to ask people

Financials

CORPSAFRICA
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

CORPSAFRICA

Board of directors
as of 05/10/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Liz Fanning

CorpsAfrica

Term: 2012 -

Craig Kennedy

Marc Douglas

Karli Hagedorn

Omar Laafoura

Jocelyn Zuckerman

Kerry McNamara

James Miller

David Sanford

Liz Fanning

Stéphane Le Bouder

Haim Malka

Selamawit Tekalign Mamo

Brett Odom

Pierre Thiam

Patricia Tibbetts

Moky Makura

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 4/17/2023

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Decline to state
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 04/12/2020

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.